JNEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



I'UBLISHFA) BY WILLIAM NICHOLS, ROGERS' BUILDINGS, CONGRLSS STRl-:i:r, (I'OUR'l'H UUUR hRim STATE STREET. 



^OL. H. 



BOSTON. SATURDAY, DECEMBER 20, 1823. 



No. 21. 



FIUIM THE AMERICAN KAHMKR. 



The readers of tlie American Farmer will unilo with the Editor in tlianks to Mr. Bi:ei,, of Albany, for the following very intercslin"- and va 

 'hie communication on the imfirovement of our meadow and pasture lands, and the various grasses a[iplicable (o Ihe.-^e objects. The table 



ipiled by Mr. B. is winnowed from a mass of calculations and objec(s, miiny of which are not adapted to the present condition of American A"- 



Iturc, and presents a practical aspect and character, calculated to imparl information whereof every sensible cultivator may and ought to av.TiI 

 iself. 

 The brief, but comprehensive remarks of Mr. B. upon the habits and productiveness of the several kinds of grass mentioned in (he table are 



more acceptable as coming from one, who, with extensive reading, unites diligent and judicious personal investigation by actual experiment 

 bis own farm, and with his own hands. It wotiid have been more satislactory to have given the whole communication in one paper, but we 



obliged often to forego our own judgment, for the sake of consulting the better taste of our readers, many of whom, as we have lately been ad- 



lished, have an aversion to what they call long articles; rather preferring, we sometimes fear, variety, to solidity of information as the mass 



m audience prefer laughing at the auticks of Matthews in the " Polly Packet" rather than view with" brealh-suspending admiration, the great 

 rkingsof the human soul, as exhibited by Kean- in the most pathetic passages of Othello. — Our own taste i.s the other wav, bul de gustibus non est 



utaitdum, and moreover the Farmer belongs to its patrons and not to its Editor. — The observations of Mr. B. on Lon<r-rootcd clover. Sain Foir. 



othij, Fiorin, Upright bent grass, American Cock^sfoot, Flat stalked incado-jj grass. Reed nieadon' grass. Smooth stalked meadow i^rass Floating- 

 ue grass, Cultivated grasses. Mcado-jo grasses, and Pasture grasses, will appear in our next. — Edit. Am. Far.] • " 



TABLE, 



hibiiing in one vieic, the comparative vnltie of some of the best Grasses cultivated in the United States, and in Great Bri- 

 tain, their products, nutritive matter, time offloivering and seedino; S,'c. 



N.iMES OF THE GRASSE.? 



•Sweet scented Vernal grass, 

 .Anlhoitmthnm odoratum,* 



Meadow Fox .fail, 



Alopecurxis pralensif, 



Vougli Cock's foot, 



Drcliard grass 



Daclytis slomerata,"' 



Tall oat grass, ..... 



irena Elalior, 



lye grass, 



'solium ptrenne, 



Pall Fescue Grass, .... 



•"tstuca elalior,* 



ileadow soft grass, .... 



iolcus lunalus,* 



led clover — Trifolium pratense, 

 .ucern — Medicago saiha, 

 .ong rooted clover — Trif. macrorhisum, . 

 aiiifoiu — Hedysarum onohrichis, 

 raothy, or Herdsgrass, ) . . . 



)r meadow Catstail, \ 

 ^hleum pratense,'^ 

 iorin — Agrostia slolonifera, 



Ipright bent grass — Agroslis stricta,* 

 merican Cocksfoot — Daclylis cynosuroides,' 

 lat stalked meadow grass — Poa tompressa, 



leed meadow grass — Poa aquaiica, 



mooth stalked meadow grass, . 



'oa Prattnsis,* 



'loating Fescue grass — Fesiucajluitans,* 



SOIL. 



Z.-IPI.OVED. 



In flower 

 In seed 

 Latter math 

 In flower 

 In seed 

 Latter math 

 In flower 

 In seed 

 Latter math 

 In seed 

 Latter math 

 In flower 

 In seed 

 Latter math 

 In flower 

 In seed 

 Latter math 

 In flower 

 In seed 

 In seed 

 In seed 

 In seed 

 In seed 

 In flower 

 In seed 

 Latter Math 

 lln flower 

 jIn seed 

 'in flower 

 iln seed 

 !In flower 

 earth and In flower 

 clay |In flower 



lln seed 

 'Latter math 

 Tenaceous clay In flower 



Sandv loam 



Clayey loamt 



■andy loam 



Black loam 



Clayey loam 



Do. 



Do. 



Do. 



Do. 



Do.^ 



Bog Soil 



|Bog Soil 

 Clayey loam 

 (Gravelly 

 Strong clay 



When ° "^ 

 experiment-^ « 

 ed upon. ■< ^ 



ci « 

 O 



lbs. 

 per 





bj) a 



lbs. 

 per 



Wt. 

 lost 

 acre per 

 _ when acre 

 S-^" dried, when 

 ^ dried, 



i - *J c 





S, 5 



lbs. 



i.nr, 



6.126 

 6.80t 

 20.41 li 

 12. Pol 

 8.167 

 27.905 

 26.544 

 11.910! 

 16.335! 

 13.612' 

 7.827, 

 14.973, 

 643 

 51.046| 

 75'51.046| 

 23 15.654: 

 28 19.057 

 28 19.057 

 72 49.005 

 104 70.785 

 144 98.010^ 



13 8.848 

 60 40.837 

 60 40.8371 



14 9.528 

 26 17.696 

 28 19.057 



11 7.486 

 102,69.423 



5' 3.403 

 186126596 

 ]5i 10.209 



12 8-507 

 6 4.083 



20! 13.612 



dr. lbs. 

 21 2.103 

 24 1.837 



24' 6.125 

 24J 5.819 



24! 11.859 

 40l 13.272 



S4 3.322 

 24 4.492 



28i 17.866 

 2a 17.866 



26 6.661 

 16| 3.811 

 20 12.251 



38 



28.314 



41.654 



3.539 



17.3, 

 19.397 



lbs. \dr. 

 5.72a 1 

 4.2373 



r 



14.2931 

 7.111 1 



lbs 



June21 



I22I 



3 11' Apr 29 



2391 



470| 



461 M<y30Juue24 



25, 



16.04^2 

 13.272'3 

 1 

 10.617 



4.494 

 10.481 



33.180 

 33.180 



12.39 

 15.246 

 36.754 

 42.471 

 56.35t 

 5.308- 

 23.481 

 21.439 



9.732 

 10.481 



4.7' 



7.963 



8.575 



2.7131 

 48! 41.654 27.76P|1 

 34, 1.446! 

 48 75.9571 

 22 .871 

 32 3.403 



1.9 

 50.638 

 7.337 

 5.104 



24 4.083 



9.528 



1.451 



281 



255 



26, 



305 



643 



53 



3.! 



2.392 



978 



1.191 



818 



1.914 



1.6.59 



4.21 1 



JuTie24July 14 



June28JuIy 16 



I 

 July iJulySC 



July 12Aug. 6 



July 14July26 

 July 18 July 3(1 

 July 18 Aug. 6 

 July 18 July 30 

 S45July 18Aug. 8 

 1.595' 



3.368'July 18 July 30 



297 



967 



1.042JuIy28Aug2t 



July 28 Aug 3r 



Aug.30Oct.2( 



July 30 Aug. ( 



July 20 Aug. ! 



75 

 1.898 



265 

 4.94: 



279: 



I99May30Julyl4 



111 



372|Julyl4Augl! 



4 to 13 



9 to 6 



5 to 7 



10 to 11 

 20 to 12 



10 to 23 

 13 to 14 



■When 

 best cut 



In seed 



In flower 



In flower 



In flower 

 In seed 



In flower 

 In flower 

 In flower 

 In flower 



In seed 



In seed 

 In flower 

 In flower 



In flower 



t The produce was nearly thret-fourlhs gretttr ore a clayey, than on a sandy loam. 



Note. — Those marked with an *, are indigenous, or native plants of the United States. 



■0 THE EDITOR OF THE AMERICAN FARMER. 



Skinner. — 1 have found in our publications 

 ;riculture, very little information on the im- 

 ement of our meadow and pasture grounds. 



Indeed, the names of our native grasses are 

 scarcely enumerated much less are their habit« 

 described, or their relative merits, for hay and 

 pasture, pointed out in any American worl- 



able portion of our lands are unsuitable for the 

 system of convertible husbandry, that js, an al- 

 ternation of grain and grass crops. Of this des- 

 rription are our stiff clays, marshes and swamps 



which has fallen under my notice. A consider- 'and all those lands in which tillage is rendered 



